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LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 02: Eden Hazard of Chelsea battles for the ball with Toby Alderweireld (L) and Kyle Walker (R) of Tottenham Hotspur during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on May 02, 2016 in London, England.jd (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The ten best Premier League matches of 2016

Over the next couple weeks, the staff of 32 Flags will be counting down some of the top achievements and moments of this calendar year. 2016 has seen many things in the soccer world from the good to the bad and the ordinary to the extraordinary. Today, we are counting down the top Premier League […]

WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 17: Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho looks on during the Premier League match between West Bromwich Albion and Manchester United at The Hawthorns on December 17, 2016 in West Bromwich, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho has figured out what we all already knew

Two weeks ago, Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United were wallowing away in sixth place in the Premier League. They had drawn three straight games, had won just once in their last seven Premier League games, and had drawn four straight home matches, the first time that had happened since the early 90s. Today, United are still […]

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 18: Theo Walcott of Arsenal (L) runs through to scores his sides first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on December 18, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Watch: Arsenal slice through Manchester City defense like a knife through warm butter

It’s safe to say Manchester City fans are frustrated once again. Sunday’s match with Arsenal had a lot on the line for both teams. Arsenal needed a win to keep any sort of a title race with Chelsea on life support, while City desperately need a win to stay in the top four. Things haven’t […]

SHANGHAI, CHINA – JULY 21: Douglas Costa (L) of FC Bayern Muenchen challenges federico Dimarco of FC Internazionale during the international friendly match between FC Bayern Muenchen and Inter Milan of the Audi Football Summit 2015 at Shanghai Stadium on July 21, 2015 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Watch: Douglas Costa scores sensational winner for Bayern Munich

As the year winds to a close now is a time where people tend to look back on the highlights of the past year. If you are one of those people trying to compile a list of the best goals world football has produced this season, please stop what you’re doing right away and check […]

MADRID, SPAIN – DECEMBER 07: Karim Benzema of Real Madrid (L) celebrates scoring his sides second goal with Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid (R) during the UEFA Champions League Group F match between Real Madrid CF and Borussia Dortmund at the Bernabeu on December 7, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Which European league is best set up for Champions League success

Over the last few years, when the Champions League has gotten down to their final few teams, all the talk would surround which team was best set up to go all the way to the final. Some of the team were only there once in the past few years, such as Manchester City, Chelsea, or […]

BARCELONA, SPAIN – JANUARY 17: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona holds up the FIFA Ballon d’Or trophy prior to the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Athletic Club de Bilbao at Camp Nou on January 17, 2016 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Who would win a non Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi Ballon d’Or award?

The Ballon d’Or started out as an award given out by French Football to the best European player in football. In 1995, that changed to include all players playing for European clubs and in 2007, all players around the world were included. From 2010-2015 the award was merged with FIFA’s Player of the Year award […]

HAMBURG, GERMANY – JUNE 19: US Manager Bruce Arena speaks to the media druing a press conference for the United States national Team on June 19, 2006 at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Is Bruce Arena right to not consider players who aren’t getting consistent playing time with their club?

During the Jurgen Klinsmann era, one of the US Soccer media’s favorite activities was to point out whenever Klinsmann said one thing, then acted differently, and make it into a big deal. This was never more apparent when criticizing Klinsmann’s squad selections. Klinsmann often said one of the big factors that determined whether a player […]

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 24: The Champions league trophy is seen prior to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match between Manchester City and Barcelona at Etihad Stadium on February 24, 2015 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Looking back at the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League group stage

The UEFA Champions League group stage has come to a close with 32 teams being narrowed down to 16. As usual it was an action filled group stage, complete with goals, comebacks, and upsets. Let’s look back at some of the highlights. Who advanced? Arsenal, Napoli, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, Leicester City, and […]

ENFIELD, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 14: Gareth Southgate interim manager of England speaks during an England press conference on the eve of their international friendly match against Spain at Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on November 14, 2016 in Enfield, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Gareth Southgate hire is more of the same from England

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The England national team dominates opponents during qualifying for a major tournament, gets a lot of hype prior to the tournament only to crash out in hilarious fashion. Of course you’ve heard it before because it’s happened every two years (except in 2008 when they didn’t even make […]

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 27: Jose Mourinho, Manager of Manchester United makes his way to the stands after being sent there by their by the referee during the Premier League match between Manchester United and West Ham United at Old Trafford on November 27, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Why is Jose Mourinho so afraid of making a big move

When Manchester United signed Jose Mourinho to be their manager, they thought they were signing a manager who was tactically sharp and ruthless. Someone who would do whatever it takes to win even if that included dropping a club legend from the starting XI or keeping a £26 million signing pinned to the bench. They […]

LISBON, PORTUGAL – OCTOBER 18: Julian Weigl (L) of Borussia Dortmund celebrates with teammates after scores a goal against SC Sporting during the UEFA Champions League match between SC Sporting and Borussia Dortmund at Estadio Jose Alvalade on October 18, 2016 in Lisbon, Lisboa. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

How Borussia Dortmund is reminding me why I fell in love with this sport

Like most Americans, I didn’t grow up with soccer but rather it was something I discovered later on in life. Sure I played it as a kid but I didn’t really enjoy watching it. Then one day when I was 13 years old I heard that the goalkeeper of my local MLS team, Tim Howard […]

SWANSEA, WALES – NOVEMBER 26: Fernando Llorente of Swansea City celebrates scoring his team’s fifth goal during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Crystal Palace at Liberty Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images)

Watch: Bob Bradley gets first Premier League win in wild shootout

It has not been an easy start to life in the Premier League for American manager Bob Bradley. Bradley took over Swansea City during the international break at the start of October, but heading in to Thanksgiving weekend, he was still searching for his first Premier League win. This weekend provided Bradley with a good […]

LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 11: Head coach Bruce Arena of the Los Angeles Galaxy looks on during warmups for the match with Club America in the International Champions Cup 2015 at StubHub Center on July 11, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. The Galaxy won 2-1. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

U.S. Soccer takes eight steps back with Bruce Arena hire

There’s no question that U.S. Soccer’s firing of Jurgen Klinsmann was justified. Even the staunchest Klinsmann supporter will admit that (and believe me, I very well might be the staunchest Jurgen supporter out there). But to hire Bruce Arena as his replacement not only solves none of the issues that Klinsmann has been criticized for, but it will […]

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 19: Olivier Giroud of Arsenal (C) scores his sides first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford on November 19, 2016 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Watch: Olivier Giroud ensures that points will be split between Arsenal and Manchester United

Manchester United vs. Arsenal used to be one of the biggest games on the Premier League calendar. That’s what happens when you have two teams with big name managers battling it out at the top of the Premier League table year after years. Today it’s different. The battles at the top have long become a […]

PASADENA, CA – OCTOBER 10: Brad Guzan #1 of the United States reacts after allowing Mexico to score the game winning goal during the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Qualifier at Rose Bowl on October 10, 2015 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images)

USMNT gets embarrassed in 4-0 loss to Costa Rica

It was never supposed to be easy when the United States traveled to Costa Rica, but it wasn’t supposed to go like this either. The US travelled to San Jose, Costa Rica having never won a World Cup qualifier there, posting an 0-8-1 record in nine previous attempts. Nevertheless optimism was high that on the […]

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